We had a great turnout at Caffeine and Classics today for the Mini's 59th birthday, despite the overcast conditions and the threat of rain (which didn't eventuate). It's possible some cars were there for the Daffodil Day run instead of the Mini's birthday, but mostly it was all about the Minis.

This was the first C&C since they introduced the "nothing younger than 30 years old" rule, and everyone was interested to see how it would work. The car parks seemed to fill up more slowly, but in the end they were just as full. There were definitely more classics than usual, and a number of cars we hadn't seen before. In all it seemed to go quite smoothly.

Thanks for Tony for getting there early, and for printing out the Mini 59th Birthday display cards!

We had a disappointing turn out of only 3 vehicles for the Poker Run. We met at the Manukau City greyhound track between 10 and 10.30 for Gary’s take on a Poker Run. Gary and Catherine had ordered a warm winter’s day, with a glorious blue sky.

Gary’s instructions were quite simple; “You have five destinations to go to. You can choose which order and route to do this in, and answer a simple question at each. You will need to get out of your car to answer the questions. Each correct answer will give you a card for your poker hand at the final destination”.

Steph and Jason, new members, were the first to leave, saying “this will be quick, I know where the first one is". Second to leave was Steve after taking his time to read all the instructions. We had a brief chat to Gary and Catherine and then we were on our way.

Shelagh and I chose to do the run in this order: Barry Curtis Park near the old church; what is special on the Festival Lawn? This took a while to walk around to find the answer.

Pine Harbour private car museum; what is the driver’s name and competition number of the Mini? This took a bit of time to drive to as we followed a procession of classic cars from Ormiston Rd to the Pine Harbour turn off. Gary and Catherine were waiting at the Whitford roundabout to give us a wave.

Brookby School; what is the school motto? Answered without getting out of the car.

Clevedon via West Road; on the monument who was lost at sea?

Jones Road; what is the geodetic code (trig station number)? This was near Hunua.

Then we were off to Kings Plant Barn, Takanini via the Hunua Gorge for lunch. The gorge and Jones Road were the best Mini roads of the day as there was no traffic to follow. We followed Steph and Jason, who had arrived from a different direction, into the carpark. Steve arrived a little while later, having managed to navigate on his own.

Then we had discussions about the clues and destinations. Steve was unable to find the correct answer at Barry Curtis Park. Steph and Jason couldn’t find Jones Road as their GPS only brought up Michael Jones Road. While we ate lunch the cards were dealt out and Steph and Jason were the winners of the poker run with a pair of Kings. We were all winners on the day having enjoyed a nice Sunday morning out.

Thanks to Gary and Catherine for organising another excellent day out.

The Mini Car Club of Auckland had its annual AGM and prize giving on August 7th. From the size of the turn out and the positive comments we can all be pleased that the club is in great shape. Congratulations to all our prize winners, your enthusiasm and commitment is what makes the club so great:

Bradley Russell Memorial Award for Club Spirit: Chris Roper

Aggregate Club Points Award

1st Kevin Taylor: 54 points

2nd Tony Maulder: 41 points

3rd Richard Underwood: 39 points

Trials Points Award: (Dawn Breaker & Night Trial)

1st Adam & Jesica Jenkin

2nd Equal - Alan & Shelagh Murie

2nd Equal - Ray & Alison West

Show n Shine - Classic Mini

1st Kevin Taylor

2nd Joanne Wooding

3rd Zak Gould

Show n Shine - Modified

1st Ian McKenzie

2nd Ryan Murdock

Show n Shine - Restored

1st Grant Bowyer/Brian Smith

2nd Warwick Robinson

3rd Jim Banks

Show n Shine - Custom

1st Richard Underwood

Show n Shine - BMW Mini

1st Viv Taylor

2nd Leslie Robinson

3rd Warwick Mudgway

Show n Shine - Judges Choice/Ngaire Stephens Memorial Trophy

Grant Bowyer/Brian Smith

Motorkhana/Autocross Points Award - Graham Crispe Memorial Trophy

1st Lee Norman

2nd Kevin Taylor

3rd Chris Atkinson

Club Model Night

Best Display: Ray West

Most varied Classic Mini Display: Keith Hargraves

Most varied BMW Mini Display: Brian Smith

Motorsport Award: Kevin Taylor

Most Improved Car Award: Chris Westlake

Lead Foot Award: Warwick Mudgway (Noisy run to the Puhoi cheese factory.)

After a very big morning at Caffeine and Classics, at approximately 11am a dozen Minis headed South to the Ardmore Café where more club members were waiting. A very delicious lunch and a photo shoot took place at the Warbirds, then we proceeded to Rex Benn's Collectables where we were met by more members.

After an introduction by Rex on how his collection began with a 1929 Austin 7, he gave a brief run down on what to expect in his 2 barns of collectables. In the barns Rex gave a very informative and humorous rundown on the many and varied items that he has accumulated over many years. The barns are very well laid out, with plenty of space to wander around and view the treasures that abound on the walls, ceilings and shelving.

As there are so many items, phones, machinery, clothing, models galore etc etc, it is very hard to give a summary of the items, but there is something for everyone, male or female and in our 1 1/2 hr visit we were all kept interested.

A very worthy afternoon, and a big thanks to Rex and the organisers from the Mini club.

(Editors note: Rex asked that photos of his collection not be shared publicly.)